smith



UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEErcE.

SAMUEL J. SMITH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

NUTCRACKER.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 28,311, dated May 15, 1860.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it `known that I, S. J'. SMITH, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Nutcracker; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, in which- Figure l represents a vertical longitudinal section, taken through the machine, showing the interior mechanism in two positions. F ig. 2, is a top view of the cam, jaw, and handle of Fig. l.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both figures.

The object of this invention is to obtain a very compact, portable, and at the same time an eflicient nut-cracker, which will present a neat and handsome appearance, and will not be liable to tip over in using it, still it will not be secured to any established place.

My invention consists in the employment of a cam lever that is acted upon by a coiled spring arranged in such a relation to a curved fixed jaw, and operated by a lever having an eccentric motion, that two jaws will be obtained, one a curved and the other a straight one, between which, nuts of any ordinary size, or kind may be placed, and cracked with great facility, and with little or no power, as will be hereinafter described and represented.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

In the drawings A represents a hollow cast-metal stand, that is shaped somewhat like a birds head, with a curved beak a, the under surface of which is transversely serrated as shown in Fig. l. In the back of the head of this stand A. is a slot b, and just under the beak a, is another slot c, through which projects a tapering wedge-shaped portion that forms a part of a lever B, that is pivoted at d, to the head A. This lever has rather a peculiar shape, as shown in the drawings (Fig. l), but this shape is given to it for the purpose of preventing shells from passing in at the throat C, and liabling the parts to derangement, and the curve behind the throat enlargement is made to receive the end of a lever C, which is pivoted to the head of the stand at g, by a pin that passes eccentrically through the circular enlargement L, of the lever C. An arm or projection z', proceeds down from the en largement of lever B, and to this is attached a helical spring D, which spring is again attached to the back of the stand A, just under the slot b, in the back of the head. This spring keeps the bifurcated end of the lever up and opens the lower jaw or mouth of the bird when the lever is raised. The lever' C, passes through the slot Z2, and is curved as represented in Fig. 1, so'as to give to the machine a neat appearance and to be easy to the hand, and the slot allows the lever C, to be brought well down so as to close the jaw, or rather to bring the wedged end of the lever B, up closely to the beak a.

The arrangement of the two levers B, C, with the eccentric gives a very simple and convenient means of applying great power in closing the jaw, and the parts are each arranged in such a relation to each other that however great may be the pressure on the lever. the machine while in operation will not be likely to tip over. The curved shape of the beak a, with the straight jaw of lever B, admirably serves to hold the nut securely in its place, while the power is applied to crack it, and by the shape thus given to the mouth of the bird, large or small nuts may be cracked with great facility and with very little labor.

Then these parts are applied to a suitable wood-stand J, the machine is complete.

.Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is.-

The combination of the Xed and curved portion a, lever B, constructed as set forth, with its spring D, and the eccentric hand lever C. all relatively arranged and combined. as, and for the purposes herein described and represented.

Cries. HUGHES, WILLIAM THOMPSON. 

